The Longevity Formula

Why Topical NAD+ May Be More Powerful Than IVs with Dr. Lamees Hamdan

• Dr. Brandon Crawford • Season 2 • Episode 50

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Exploring how the skin can serve as a powerful delivery system for NAD+ to enhance energy, longevity, and cellular health. Dr. Hamdan shares the science behind her topical and oral NAD+ protocols, dispels myths about IV NAD+, and connects skin health to systemic wellness and stress resilience.

Key Takeaways

  1. The Goldilocks Approach to Wellness: Dr. Hamdan advocates for a balanced "Goldilocks" approach to health—not too little, not too much. This philosophy applies to everything from supplements to smart sun exposure for vitamin D and mood.
  2. A Proactive Approach to Skincare: The key to good skincare is being proactive, not reactive. Dr. Hamdan suggests addressing the root causes of issues like acne, such as stress and high cortisol, rather than just using topical treatments.
  3. The Inside-Out & Outside-In Method: Dr. Hamdan’s longevity strategy is a dual approach: using supplements to energize cells internally while applying topical products to directly boost collagen and elastin production on the skin.

Resources

  • Rhodiola Rosea as an adaptogen
  • NAD+ oral boosters (TimeBeam supplement)
  • Milky Serum with NAD+ (topical)
  • Tower 28 Hypochlorous Spray for eczema
  • Elta MD Sunscreen
  • Book: "Breath" by James Nestor
  • Adaptogens: Reishi, Valerian root, L-Theanine
  • Herbs used in traditional healing: Frankincense, Ginger Tea, Za'atar

Products

528 Innovations Lasers

NeuroSolution Full Spectrum CBD

NeuroSolution Broad Spectrum CBD

NeuroSolution Stimpod

STEMREGEN®

Learn More
For more information, resources, and podcast episodes, visit https://tinyurl.com/3ppwdfpm

Voice Over:
Welcome to the longevity formula with doctor Brandon Crawford. Let's explore the new era of wellness.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
By the time you hit 40. Your levels of NAD+, a molecule essential for energy, DNA repair, and healthy aging, dropped by nearly 50%. Most people try to fix that with supplements or IVs. But what if the solution has been hiding in plain sight right on your skin? Today I'm sitting down with Doctor Lamees Hamdan. She's an integrative medical doctor who's doing something I find really exciting, bringing serious longevity science into the world of skincare. You might know her as the founder of Shifa, that organic beauty brand you've probably seen at places like Sephora or Nordstrom. But now, with her latest venture called Time Beam, she's taking things way beyond beauty. This isn't a conversation about wrinkles or serums, it's about your biology. We're talking about how your skin, the largest organ in your body, can actually become a delivery system for something as powerful as an ad. If you're interested in staying sharp, aging well, and keeping your cells humming with energy, you're going to want to hear this. Doctor Hamdan, thank you so much. I'm so excited to get into this discussion with you today.

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
Thank you, doctor Brandon, I am. I can't wait to discuss my favorite topic, NAD+.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Absolutely. Well, if you don't mind kind of laying out your story a little bit because you're, you're an amazing doctor. You're an integrative medical provider. But your journey has has been very interesting. Can you kind of walk us along your journey and how you've gotten to where you're at today?

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
Sure. I studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons and, my journey actually began with me. I was doing everything right. And yet at 30, I was so tired, I would have to take, an aspirin a day just because of the aches and pains that I was experiencing. And I said to myself, this can't be right. Long story short, it took a functional medical doctor to find out what was wrong with me because all normal medical doctors, i.e. my colleagues, said that there was nothing wrong with me. Oh, it's just stress. It's just stress. Yes, it was just stress, but it was other things as well. And that got me interested into alternative modes of healing. What are we missing as allopathic medical doctors? We're very good at the acute, but we're not very good at looking at the root cause of disease. And that's what integrative medical, science is. It really is looking at the root cause of disease, what is causing your issues, and getting to the root cause. And it does, take more time, of course, but it's interesting because we're not treating people. People are not getting healthier. We have more morbidity and mortality, although the science has, you know, gone in leaps and bounds, but we're still lagging behind. I'm also a naturopathy practitioner. I'm a herbalist. I know about traditional Chinese medicine and Vedic medicine. I'm an auricular acupuncturist, and I'm certified in the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine. And that is what we need going forward, maybe as public health lifestyle medicine, because it's lifestyle diseases that are killing us.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Absolutely. That is such an accurate statement, and I love that you continue to pursue knowledge. Right. It's that curiosity is what I think every physician no matter what type of practice or specialty or whatever, if you're not curious and if you're not really actively going out trying to better yourself, asking questions, what is the root cause? Well, how do I get to that? What's the angle on this? Like that's what real good providers should be doing. Again, I don't care what. I don't care if it's a dentist. I don't care if it's a physical therapist. If it's I don't care what it is. That's really the approach that a good doctor should be taking. So thank you for doing that. What exactly does it look like to really engage with a patient and find that root cause? Can you kind of give us a little 30,000ft view of what that looks like when you're engaging with someone?

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
Well, first of all, I'm in the business of health. So. But when you go to see an integrative doctor, you usually get an hour with the doctor. And it's not about so many tests. Again, I feel that we as doctors and maybe as patients are over testing. I want to do a food allergy test. I want to do it this test that tests well, food allergy testing and other tests have not shown to be consistent or reproducible, and therefore their data isn't something that you should take as gospel. So why even spend the money doing it? There are certain tests that yes, you need to do that. Give us an outlook, on what's happening to you. But more than that, it's the history. It is you telling me what is wrong with you. And I'm trying like Sherlock Holmes to put it together. Is it a little bit of stress? Is it lack of sleep? Is it just lack of vitamin D? It's just so many things and everything's connected, and this is what I'm trying to bring across to everyone, whether you're a physician or not, is that everything's connected. My main business is skincare, right? But even with skincare, everything's connected. The way you feel, your mood affects your skin quality. The stress levels affect your skin, skin quality, how much sun you get or not, or you don't get affects your skin quality. So really with integrative medicine, you should have an hour, hour and a half, sometimes two hours with your doctor to really find out what is going on and how can. And we're evidence based, so we're not going to give you things that don't have proper evidence behind it. And it depends. Sometimes we will say things that you don't want to hear, like you have far too much stress and you need to find a way, either by meditation, either by yoga, taking a hot bath at night to do it. But you are responsible for your health. I can't exercise for you. I can't meditate for you. I can't take those pills for you or cook for you. You have to. So it's the patient and the doctor working together. Whereas allopathic medicine, it's almost like the patient gives up their, everything to the doctor and will just do what the doctor tells them to do. Take this, do that, and that's it. But with integrative medicine, we're partners 100%.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
And something that came to mind every now and then. Right. Will engage with, a patient. And they're typically very affluent. And, you know, there's, there's a whole mindset that comes with this. And they it's typically a kid on the spectrum or something. And they, they truly want their kid to get better, don't get me wrong. But they also do not want to disengage with their lifestyle or with their career or with something like this. But they'll engage with us and they think, well, I did the appointment. I spent the money. Well, where are the results? But then where it's sitting there telling them, Will you have to change your sleep? You have to change your, your food. You have to, you know, in talking through all these things. And then when we do a follow up, like one of the things change. Okay, well, let's walk through how a sleep. Oh, well, we still don't do that. Well, what about diet? Have you done this, this and this? No, we haven't done that. Okay. What about exercise? Are we doing. No, we're not doing it. It's like, okay, you don't get better by just having a consult with us, right? Yeah. That just kind of resonated because it came up here recently. Okay. So let's kind of dive into this concept of holistic skincare. And what it means and how it crosses over with longevity medicine and that kind of concept. And I'm specifically interested because I'm starting to get these, wrinkles specifically around my eyes. This really started to pop up after some long trips to Dubai. Right? Which is, where you were actually born, right? And you. Yes. You still you're still there? Yes. Although you're in LA at the moment. So help me understand, why am I starting to see these physical signs of aging? I'm trying to do everything right, but this is happening. I mean, what's going on?

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
Well, first of all, we just mentioned everything's connected, and your skin is your largest organ. And in longevity science, before it was a given, like, you know, aging is inevitable. Aging is inevitable. I'm 50 years old. However, the degradation and function that happens with aging is not inevitable. And this opens a huge longevity science i.e. what exactly is happening and how can we stay? I say younger for longer. I'm 50. Nothing's going to turn back the clock from 50. I'm still going to be 50. But I shouldn't feel achy. I should feel vibrant. There's no reason not to. So then we go into, okay, what are the things that will help us feel vibrant? And that's the looking glass. That or the the microscope that I come with when I deal with skin. How do I make your skin's health span longer, i.e. your skin acting younger for longer? And there are many things. There's not just one cure. And again, with allopathic medicine, we want one pill that'll take care of us. It's not because aging is many different things that are happening to you and we'll go through them. But I have to say, the last five years, there's one ingredient that has come up again and again that I'm very excited about. And I think it's the closest we have to the fountain of youth, not just for your skin, but everywhere. And that's NAD+. And I'll tell you why. NAD+ is a coenzyme in your body that powers ATP production. ATP is the energy currency of your cell, all cells. It's a universal energy currency, which makes it very powerful. So your skin needs it, your hair needs it. Your liver cells need it. Your gut cells need it. Every single cell in your body needs it. But and this is where the aging comes in. You have youthful levels of NAD+ up to about your 20s after your 20s, like I'm 50 at 50, I my body's producing 50% of the NAD+ as a 20 year old. And it's not because my body needs less NAD+. On the contrary, my body needs more NAD+, but I'm either using up too much NAD+ and not making enough. And that's where the magic of NAD+ plays. If we can sort of nudge your body into producing more NAD+, then perhaps we can get your cells or give your cells the energy they need to not break down the wrinkles you are having is a breakdown in collagen and elastin, mainly, and skin and hair are your most actively dividing cells, right? They your skin turns over every 28 days. Your skin cells need a heck of a lot of energy, constantly. And that's where I think NAD+ plays a very big role in health and overall health. And that's why with my skincare line, it wasn't just about okay, topical NAD+, but it's also inner or supplemental Nadp+, the inner and the outer gives you the full solution when you're talking about skincare. And if you go and want to buy a skincare brand or product, it's only topical. And I think that's half a solution. It's not a full solution.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm curious, do you think okay, so I've got this collagen breakdown happening on my face. Okay. Well that doesn't mean it's a localized phenomenon to my face. I mean, could this also be a sign? Yep. That. Hey, something's going on in the liver, the gut, the whatever, right? I mean, we can't just go. Oh, skin is skin. No. Skin correlates to overall health, right?

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
And what's nice or interesting is that you can't see your liver, but you can see your skin, right? And when you get age spots. Right, what is that about some people? You know, the theory is eight spots is the, too much protein or excess protein that's not used. It's being, you know, just in the cell and it's not being taken out properly, i.e. waste management system isn't working very well. And that's why you're getting age spots. And if the, waste management system isn't working very well in your skin, it's probably not working very well elsewhere in your body. And that's where you need other things. But even if you bathed every single cell in your body, whether it's your liver, cell, brain cell or skin cell in nutrients, your body's going to use your skin cells going to use it. And that's going to tire because it doesn't have enough energy to do more of the work. So really, if you give your body energy first, then the other things are icing on the cake, i.e. the nutrients and all the other things that your different cells need. Your skin cells have a different nutritional requirement than your liver cells, than your brain cells, but they all need to be powered. They all need energy 100%.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
We, when I'm working with patients, I'll tell them we need to focus on the bioenergetics of the cell first.

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
Yes.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Right. And that's looking at redox potentials. That's looking at the mitochondria, that's looking at all of these inner workings. You know, it's like, hey, I need to drive to Dallas. Well, if I get in my car and there's no gas, I could be driving a Lamborghini. But if there's no gas, it doesn't matter. Right. Same concept. You know, you can be doing everything right. Taking the supplements, eating the good foods, all the things. But if your cell has no energy, you're not going anywhere. At least you're not going as well as you could be going. So, let's let's talk a little bit more about nad because I have some questions. Right. So there's a lot of confusion right now with the NAD, especially with patients. You know, some patients will be like, oh, I can inject it, I can eat it, I can do an IV, I can, you know, all these different things. So, so you're talking about a topical coupled with an oral. Yes. How does that compare with, let's say nad ID is it really just about it's easier to administer that way or do we see better effects that way? What are your thoughts there?

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
My thoughts, I have two things I don't like. I've anything in general. I don't think we should be opening up our veins just like that at the drop of a hat. I think, you know, respecting the integrity of the skin is really important. And, you know, just putting things directly into the bloodstream is not warranted. And plus, it's expensive. NAD IV drugs and it's too much. You are flooding the system with too much NAD+. And what happens when you flood a system with something your body's very smart? It's going to turn off its own endogenous production, i.e. its own internal production of NAD+, because it'll be like, holy moly, I've got LSD plus raining down on me. I don't need to produce anymore. And it stops. So you feel good for a while, and then you feel bad and you think, oh, I need another ID of course you do, because you've stopped your body's production of NAD+, and it takes between 30 to 90 days of not taking nad, and, IVs for your body to say, oh, I'm not getting anymore. Okay, I'd better start production of my NAD+. So first of all, it is not effective. And I think that you should only get NAD+ IVs if a doctor or equivalent tells you you need it. Yes, because I would say in 95% of people do not need IV, NAD+, intramuscular, same thing. You do not need that. You don't need to put yourself through it. You need I think oral NAD+ boosters are the thing because you have to understand also, NAD+, the molecule is highly unstable. So liposomal NAD+ again, highly unstable. What you need is oral. And you have Nehmen and Na oral that you can take the issues with that is that, as you know, the supplement industry and I think that's half the reason I got into the supplement industry is because I needed stuff. So I needed to make it myself because the supplement industry is the Wild West. It is unregulated. And I think Croma decks or someone did a study of 17 of the men and and are supplements in the market, and 15 of them were lower than what they stated. And I think it's because a hasn't been done properly. You know, the manufacturing hasn't been done properly because even men and hour can be unstable under, certain circumstances. But also there's a new kid on the block and that new kid nad plus booster on the block is what I'm using. And it it has better absorb ability. It not only increases NAD+ and ATP, but it also increases other longevity markers like glutathione and superoxide dismutase, and it decreases excess cortisol levels. So it just it's NAD+ boosting plus plus. And I like to do third party, testing. And I got someone who I think she's in her mid 30s and she tested before taking my supplement and she was at 23, which is deficient, which is micro moles. And then after eight days of taking my NAD+, she went from 23 to 40 and 40 is youth levels. So if anyone tells you that oral NAD+ is ineffective, that's absolutely not true. And as a doctor, it's we say do no harm. Why are we injecting when oral does a beautiful, job of getting you to youth levels without, turning off your endogenous NAD+. Plus, I'll say just one thing, especially to people who really know their NAD+. A lot of scientists were taking an amine and then stopped because of the increase in their homocysteine levels. Again, the formulation of supplements is an art. I've put methyl, club amine in the supplement because it's not just one thing. It's a few things, and that is vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is great for fatigue, but the missile group is what is used when yes, you produce it NAD+, but then it gets metabolized, right, it gets used, and as it gets gets used, it needs a methyl group. And so if you're in, you know, everything's a balance. If you're increasing NAD+ production, you have to think, okay, what else needs to be increased to make sure that everything stays in balance because everything is connected?

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Yes, everything is connected. And I totally agree with you in the discussion on the IV. Right? You can, when you're doing IV nutritional work like it has to be very precise. Right? I'm actually talking with, Doctor Medeiros. She's, a neurosurgeon, my medical director here in Austin. And, you know, we're talking through. Hey, are there scenarios when we could consider some I.V. nutrition and. But the the amount of information that we want to gather from the patient to be able to be as precise as we need to, it's a lot like the whole concept of the IV bar, right? Just going in and getting hooked up. It's like, man, that that can be not so good. And then sometimes it's really creating some expensive urine at times, right? Yes. Pretty interesting. I mean, I have done I did one time, I did one, nad IV. Okay. I felt like trash.

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
Yeah.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
I'm talking like I was like, okay, I will never we'll never do this again.

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
It's too much for your body. It's too much for your body. Just. You see. But the thing is, as humans and I'm sure in your own practice, you see that where you say a little is good and they're like, oh, give me more. No, it doesn't work that way. It's Goldilocks. Too little is not good. Too much is not good. You need to get it just right. Yeah. And and that's that's the true. And that's when true healing begins, honestly. And that's when you really understand the power of your beautiful body and, and and how to just nudge it here and there.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Absolutely. So,

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
But can we go back to your wrinkles because let's just we thought we talked about supplements, which is great. But let's also talk about topical NAD+. So our topical NAD+ works a little bit differently. It what it does is it activates the rate limiting enzyme in the NAD+ cycle. Your body has many different ways of producing NAD+, and under normal circumstances, 70% of your NAD+ is actually produced from a salvage pathway. That's how important NAD+ is, for your body. It actually has a way of salvaging it and making it up again. So what we do with our topical because adamant and GnRH, and NAD+ boosters in general are very unstable, especially on a topical there is another NAD+ booster that actually activates the enzyme. The empty enzyme, which is the rate limiting step in a salvage pathway. So testing was done on just that one ingredient. And yes, most of the tests and you know, people say, oh, clinically tested test is tested. Most of the tests done are on, human cells right. Keratinocytes cells or skin cells in a in a petri dish, which is fine. Right. It shows that it are one was done that way as well. It showed that it increased collagen collagen density, increased Nadp+, decreased age spots, etc., etc., etc. but a human study was also done. And this human study was interesting because not only did it decrease fine lines and wrinkles, it decreased the depth of your nasolabial fold and your marionette lines. Now I'm going to like you're going to say, oh, not just here, I have to look. You're going to look elsewhere because aging happens everywhere. And it also changed your face shape. Ask any plastic surgeon and your face, when you are younger is in an inverted triangle. Okay. It's like this. As you age, you get more jowly and it actually becomes a triangle. So what happens is that they measured these lines right from here to here to your gel, and they found with just this ingredient alone, it actually changed the shape. It brought it to a more from this, a normal triangle to a more inverted triangle where there was a lifting effect. So you really have to see look at everything when you're talking about wanting to look younger for longer. And that's not the only thing that topical NAD+ does. It helps your collagen and elastin cells produce even more. And to produce something called collagen 17, which sits at the interface between the dermis and dermis, and it makes your skin thicker, thick skin is great because as we age, we get thinner skin. Remind. Remember your grandparents thinner skin, thinner skin, breaks down quicker, shows fine lines and wrinkles quicker. So, I think that NAD+ boosters and and nudging this NAD cycle is great everywhere. Now, when you take the supplement, yes, it affects your whole body, which is great because I don't have like a honing device in my supplement that takes it only to your skin. So your whole body is getting the benefit. But with a topical, it's actually going just here and changing the shape and making it bouncier, making your skin bouncier, almost like a a water, a water balloon. I can see the difference in my skin. I used to, do an appeal once a week. I haven't done a peel, at at home peel for four months now because I've been using it because I believe my skin is turning over every 28 days on the dot. So give it time. Oh, and with that particular ingredient, I was talking about testing. So with the human tests, it was shown that it takes eight years of aging in two months of use. So yes. And I'm telling you, it's the next best thing, but I don't have just any plus in it. I've got peptides, I've got ceremonies, I've got all things that your skin needs, but NAD+, I would be lying if I said wasn't powerful. It's very powerful. And, the results are just astounding. And, you know, it's I think it's very well priced at I think it's around $40. I mean, I see skincare at 150 and $200 and I'm like, why? What is in it? I think a lot of it is smoke and mirrors, and I'm trying to sort of get that out. We're trying to be more, you know, just it's important that you're very transparent. Yes. Because beauty and it is very smoke and mirrors, whereas medicine isn't. And I think medicine needs to be more transparent. Nutrition needs to be more transparent. And also beauty needs to be more transparent.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Absolutely. Well, I can tell you my my wife does a phenomenal job taking care of her skin. I don't even know how much she spends on it, but she there's, you know, a few dollars leaving the bank account, focusing on her skin, but it's like she's aging in reverse. I'm like, man, I'm sitting here looking worse, and you're, like, looking better every year. It's crazy. But I was, in our conference room in the office preparing, for this conversation. And she comes in, she sits down, next to me, and she sees your name, and she goes, oh, yeah. And I'm like, what do you mean? She's like, I know the product. I actually got that for you a long time ago and you never used it. I'm like, okay, well, I'll start using it now. So, so what would be like what? What's my product stack from you? Like, what should I be doing personally? Like to help to help this. All this stuff going on here.

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
I would actually. Do you have a problem with sleeping?

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
I mean, it depends on my travel. I travel a lot. So if I'm not traveling, no, I don't I don't tend to have any issues with sleep.

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
Okay. Then what I would do is I would keep it very simple for you. I can show you the products that I would recommend. It's this, the milky serum that has NAD+. And you only need to put on this amount. Okay? Okay. Any time. Face, neck under eyes. Please don't forget your neck. After that, I want you because it's a serum and a moisturizer in one. It's actually been clinically tested to give you 24 hours of hydration in one use. So after this, I think a sunscreen is important. What are the three major?

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Like my wife? Yes.

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
Yes.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Okay.

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
He's right. You should listen to your wife more often, but honestly, find a sunscreen that works for you. Try Elta, MD. Okay? It's a gorgeous sunscreen. It's very easy to use. It doesn't feel heavy, I get it. Some sunscreens are very uncomfortable to use. Try using that. On top of this, it will feel just so soft and so light. And then in the morning, all you need to do is take one of this NAD+ supplement. But it's not just NAD+. It also has excuse me, it also has rhodiola rosea, which is a adaptogen. And I think honestly, all adults unless you live I just came back from Big Sur, and maybe if I was in Big Sur and living there, I wouldn't need an Adaptogen. But I think all adults are under a lot of stress without realizing it. And what adaptogens do is that they sort of help your body adapt to stress. And rhodiola is a beautiful adaptogen to take in the morning because especially for people who work or study, because it not only helps your body deal with stress, but it also helps memory and focus, and it helps energizing energize you without, like, the, jitters. I've got vitamin B12 in it, which helps with energy and fatigue. I've got hyaluronic acid, which will help hydrate your skin from the inside. And I've got vitamin C in it because vitamin C is needed not only as an antioxidant, but for your body to produce proper collagen. Again, you're nudging the NAD+ up. You're nudging your, keratinocytes to produce more, collagen and elastin. So give collagen a little bit more vitamin C, give your NAD+ that metallic group that it needs. So it's all together, and you will feel that you won't get the 3 p.m. like dip. You know how some people get that 3 p.m. dip? You won't get it when you start taking that. And you'll find that you need less coffee or tea if that's what you drink. I don't drink coffee, I drink. Yeah. So just so just honestly, this, this and then SPF for now. Okay? That's what you need. And longevity and health and skin health should not be complicated. This seven step routine. And you need to have seven, different supplements to be healthy. Has plenty you one before taking all these supplements, has anyone told you maybe you're better off eating better quality food and actually chewing your food 40 times, so you let the saliva in your body the first stage of digestion, work properly? Are you taking bitters before food to help again? Our main source of energy is not this. Although I'm selling this, our main source of energy comes from food and that's really important. How do we increase also your NAD+ levels? It's from dairy. It's from meat. Salmon. It's also from exercise and it's from good sleep. And I think it's really important that every single time we talk about health, whether it's longevity, skin longevity, just normal longevity, we also say sleep is important. Good mood, i.e. dealing with your stress is important. I can give you supplements to help, but the heavy lifting, if you really have issues with stress should come from you as well.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Yeah, I used to use the the saying that if you live on Stress Island, well and you have XYZ condition, you have to get off Stress Island like there's not a supplement that gets you off of Stress Island. There's not a medication that gets you off the stress island. You got to get in the boat and you got to move. That's that's step one. 100%. So let's talk a little bit about this concept of sun, right. Because you yes. You gave me a gut punch here. I, you know, the whole discussion with my wife is, Hey, Brandon, you need to, because, you know, we'll be driving the car and I'm like, man, look at this is starting to, you know, irritate me. I see myself on camera and all this kind of stuff. And she's like, I've told you, you need a little sunscreen on your face. When you're outside, you're outside a lot, you know? And then I'm like, no, we need sun for health and longevity in our mitochondria and all this kind of stuff. Where is the balance here?

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
I'm so happy you said that. Because it is a balance. Let me tell you my story. I come from a culture where lighter skin is prized, right? You come from a culture where tanned skin is prized. Isn't that, weird? So for. And I was really into preserving my youth, so I would use sunscreen, and I was, out of the sun for decades. Right? My dermatologist was so happy with me, but I was sick. I wasn't feeling well. I didn't have the energy at 35, and my vitamin D levels were so low. And it took a functional medical doctor who said to me, you need to go and stay in the sun and sunbathe for ten minutes a day. I said, but my skin, what is it going to do to my skin? And he said something I'll never forget. Do you want to be a beautiful looking corpse? And I said, no, there's makeup there. They can, you know, they can do something about that. And but that resonated. So it's all about balance. There is do not think that by taking a vitamin D supplement. And if you do take D3, please make sure you take K2 with it. But don't think that by taking a vitamin D supplement, it is instead of the sun. It is supplementing with the sun C supplements and supplementing. And so this is what I do now. I put sunscreen on my face and neck every single day. However, I also get smart sun so I sunbathe. I do not sun tan. I do not stay under the sun baking. I take it as a prescription of 5 to 10 minutes where most of my arms and most of my legs, if not my whole body, is exposed to the sun for about 5 to 10 minutes to get not only the vitamin D, but also there are other things that are happening on our skin that affect our mood, our brains, our health. So many things that we still do not know or are beginning to know. There is a reason why we need to be exposed to the sun. So this is what I do. So you're you're your, wife is right. Protect your face and neck and you can see I've got a tattoo now because I don't tan, but I'm out surfing. You know, I took up surfing at 48. I'm out surfing. You know, you can't be like this and avoid the sun. You need to get out. You need a good mood. You know, we've created due to our vilification of the sun, we've created a whole load of other diseases. Certain cancers grow because of low vitamin D and low sun exposure. Mood. It's a disaster that we've created. People are not happy. People are anxious these days. And I do believe it's because we've just vilified the sun and spending time in the sun. And so again, like Goldilocks, there's a balance. It's not about tanning. It's about getting the goodness from the sun for about 5 to 10 minutes. And that's it. Then you can cover up. Then you can do what you want. But you know, do I believe that? Avoiding the sun is healthy. No, I think avoiding the sun is unhealthy. And not only that, everyone on TikTok is on these. Oh, did you do a cortisol cocktail? Why do you even need a cortisol cocktail? You don't understand. You know, it's not the first thing I would do if you have high the high pattern of cortisol, the it's not even the second thing or the 10th thing. It's like the maybe thousandth thing you would do. The first thing you do is as soon as you wake up, go outside and expose your eyes to the morning light. You need to say to your body, hey, wake up! It's morning time. That will help reset your circadian rhythm and help you avoid the, over, production or, over your body producing too much cortisol. Yes. And then stress is another thing. Deal with the stress. Adaptogens help my NAD+ booster helps, but also deal with where is the stress coming from? We will always be under stress. We have to be start being more resilient. And isn't that something we need to talk about as well? Maybe all the different things where it's people aren't resilient anymore. They say they're more sensitive. They're not. They've just forgotten how to be resilient. If you want fruit trees to grow good fruit, sometimes you have to give them a little bit of stress so they grow stronger. Don't let the stress break you. Let the stress turn it so it makes you stronger.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Yes, we need that hermetic response. Yeah, we just the right amount of stress is what really brings optimization to fruition. Yeah. That's awesome. So you've talked about, a reactive approach versus a proactive approach. How does that apply to skincare? Like at what age? When does someone really need to start thinking through this? Is this like a forever thing or at like age 25, what are we thinking?

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
I would say, early 20s, if not like late teens, 17, 18 just because, you know, everything goes downhill from 20 onwards. And, again, you don't need to complicate it all. You do, all you need to do is make sure you're getting what you need from the inside out and outside in. Skincare usually was very proactive. You have acne. Here's a product. You have pigmentation. Here's a product. Well, what about if we can do that and say, you know what, I want to make sure because you're young enough that you never get eight spots for pigmentation. I want to make sure that your skin never becomes sensitized because I want to build your skin barrier and build the thickness of your collagen. I want to make sure that we stay younger for longer so you don't get fine lines and wrinkles in your early 30s. Let's push it to your 50s. You know, I'm 50. So I think that, yes, there's a proactive approach that is missing in skincare these days. It's mostly reactive. Go to any skincare, area and you'll see that, oh, you've got this. Here's what we can solve it. It's about solving, but it's not about also making you stay younger and more youthful for longer. And that's what we try to solve. Yes, we're going to solve your pigmentation issues, and yes, we're going to solve your acne issues. And acne issues actually do solve because more and more adults are getting acne hormonally. And we did testing only on our AMD supplement. And we saw that people's acne also decreased, especially if you get it around the jawline and the chin. This is usually where hormonal acne is. It almost went away by 80%. And that is because and everyone was like totally missed. It cures acne. And I say it doesn't cure acne. Acne is a result of something going on. And what it's curing is the root cause of the acne, which is stress, which is high cortisol levels because high cortisol equals high sebum production. And it also treats, the the, you know, the hormones which are interrelated with, again, stress and cortisol. So by just by treating that and making it better along the river, it's treating your acne as well. And it's making your skin bouncier. And it's treating your fine lines and wrinkles because we've we've gone to the root cause. What skincare brands do is they put different acids, benzoyl peroxide, whatever it is, sulfur to try and, take care of it topically, but especially for acne, that's only 30% of the solution because it's still gum.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Right? So what I'm hearing is maybe something to think through is during those early years of when those, you know, you start to hit puberty. Yeah, maybe that's really the time. I mean, that makes sense because that's a high stress time. It is. Yeah. Body changes. You have typically, you know, you're in middle school. There's and that's just weird. I mean, you've got friend group still trying to form and athletics and all these different things. I mean, there's a high degree of stress there, and I'm witnessing it. And, you know, my children, they're very stressed out with school some days. I remember I was never a lot of these stresses just didn't really exist back when I was a kid. I mean, it was stressful. It wasn't to the degree. So, so let's talk a little bit about the concept of eczema, if you don't mind. And I know we're coming up on time. I want to respect your time there, but, is it the same concepts when we're working through eczema? I've got a kid with eczema, and we've done all the things, and still it'll flare up. Number one, can your product line help here? And then what are some other thoughts you have?

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
I think eczema is two things. The fact that you get it is stress related. I have eczema here, and I it tends to flare up whenever I am stressed. So there is a definite and very big and very deep stress element there. Another thing is what happens with eczema is, you know, your your skin becomes red and sensitive. So there are two things there. One, there is a belief. And and for some people it works that there is a certain bacteria that flares it up. And therefore if you have active eczema, sometimes your dermatologist might tell you to do, very, very, very diluted bleach baths. I would say instead of that, there are really cute hypochlorite acid, sprays, which is a very diluted, almost bleach that you can use instead. And I can name brands, if you don't mind, because children like to use things that are cute that other kids use. They don't want to be the one using this yucky medicinal thing. So if you don't mind me saying brands Tower 28 makes a really cute one and they make a nice travel sized one and you can use that twice a day when the flare ups happen or once they're about to happen. I just did a post on my Instagram account, like just not being very, nice towards hydrochloric acid sprays and basically saying they are diluted bleach. But for people with eczema, especially during a flare up, that might help. And then when there is no flare up, stop using it because it is a diluted bleach and it might not respect all the good, microbiomes on your skin and your skin barrier. So that's number one and tower 28. All kids love it and even adults. So and it's a really cute one. So again, take them to Sephora or another place that sells them if Ulta sells them and and you know, make it a thing instead of it being, oh, this is a medical, this is a medical solution, you know, make it beauty. Beauty always sounds better than medicine, right? Another thing is, if it's very bad and if it's constantly coming, I think that teaching a meditation visualization breathing technique might be useful. Now, kids are very good at visual. Visualization techniques because they've got so much better, you know, visualization than we do. We tend to as we get older, just, you know, lose all our creativity. And they're not. So every day, maybe just for five minutes, even two minutes, even in the car, going to school. Let your, son or daughter just visualize nice skin and, you know, just calming, calming, calming. Another thing to do that you can't do if that's too much is the four, seven, eight breaths you breathe in for four counts, hold it for seven, breathe out for eight, and you only need to do three breaths, because more than that is too much for the body. Three breaths in the morning, three breaths in the afternoon, and three breaths at night before going to bed. That really activates that parasympathetic system and helps your body, go into a more relaxed, less anxious state. And depending on their age, I would also maybe, give rhodiola or another adaptogen. How's the sleep? Is sleep good? If sleep isn't good, there are good things for sleep. Like tart cherry juice. Even without going to adaptogens. Just buy it from, you know, that's what I use in my, in my PMS supplement for time being because I want you to get beauty sleep. But tart cherry is great. It's nature's own melatonin, and it tastes good as well. And she can have it during the day. Valerian root, which I also use, tastes like socks, so I would recommend that there because patient compliance is key right.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Especially kids. Yeah.

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
Yes. And then it's really important to get something that moisturizes the skin if it's eczema and something very simple. So if you don't mind using tallow I actually think tallow is very good. If you want to do a little, oil with organic jojoba, 10% of castor oil and a little bit of camomile, Roman or German, or even both there. And, your son or daughter puts it all over their body that, I, I like to say after, you know, showering. This is what you use instead of creams. I find that creams have too many ingredients in them that aren't necessarily natural. And when you're talking about eczema and skin, and especially in the younger person, I think that the more pure you go, the better. I've been recently using tallow and really loving it as a skin ingredient. It really moisturizes the the the skin of the body. Don't buy any tallow with any lavender or anything in it. They put far too much lavender. It's going to irritate, the skin. So I hope and and there is a gut connection with eczema as well. People are people are thinking so sauerkraut or if you want just pills that are specific to eczema, I'm sure there are. And I'll try and get you, 1 or 2 that you can also leave on your show notes if there is.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Awesome. I appreciate that. That's like, that was a lot of information for, the listeners, especially if they're struggling through eczema. I mean, you hit pretty much every category that you can navigate. And that we have navigated. And, I agree, Telo funny enough, my own son, he actually started using tallow on his own. Right? So he's got to the point to where he's starting to do his own research. And, I see this package come in and it's tallow, and I'm like, what's this? He's like, I'm going to try it. I'm like, okay, that's fantastic. The I think you nailed the meditation component. Because the, the biggest correlate it the, the biggest correlate that I see with his flare ups is when he gets stressed and gets emotional and something happens at school or something happened in athletics or something like this flares it up. And I've tried to talk to him about this, right. Like the whole concept of meditation and, and I love the book called Breathe by James Nester. Phenomenal book. I've read it once. I'm rereading it again right now, actually. And so trying to teach them this in while my youngest will sit there and and visualize and get all into it, he this one just won't. So I'm still working on that. But I think you're absolutely correct on that, that that's definitely something that I need to get him to do more of.

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
So can I also as just a gift for me, send your son the Am and PM supplement and why both anxiety is I've got a few ingredients in it, like reishi mushroom, valerian root, l-theanine that also like it takes the edge off. Oh, yeah. And and that might help while we get him also to do the four, seven, eight breaths. Forget meditation. You know, it might be just you know, no compliance. They won't do it. But maybe the four, seven, eight breaths they can do all the time and consistently. And it's easy. And that also puts your body in a parasympathetic mode. But we anxiety's key and I think social media I have children, my youngest is 16. And I've put him on rhodiola. Nice. Because it, they just get too anxious and they don't come to you sometimes. So. And rhodiola is a herb, you know, my grandmothers used to treat us with herbs. We used to get ginger tea and za'atar tea, which is a time tea during winter. Whenever we had coughs, she'd put a little bit of frankincense in the water and let us drink it. You know, we've been healing with herbs for centuries, so don't be afraid of supplements if they're well rounded and if you know who's behind it as well. It's much better than medicating, right?

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Yeah. Well, I appreciate that. That's great. Well, you're just a plethora of knowledge and just, just a breath of fresh air. You know, talking to someone who has the the medical training. But then coupled with the holistic mindset and really just, the common sense mindset as well, you bring that level of practicality to the table. So it's been, you know, really great conversation. Is there anything else that you'd like to touch on before we kind of wrap this up?

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
No, I think we've, we've, we've done everything. But I will say, please take care of yourselves and find the joy in whatever it is you do. And I think that's something that when we talk about longevity, we forget to say meaningful connections. And finding a purpose in life is one of the important drivers in Healthspan and longevity. And I just wanted to mention that because I just wanted to keep it top of mind with everyone as well.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Absolutely. And if someone wants to learn more about you or your product lines or anything, where do they go to to find that information?

Dr. Lamees Hamdan:
Well, for me, they can go to at Schiffer Beauty s h I double f a beauty shop. That means healing in Arabic. And my line is at Time beam beauty. So, Thank you.

Dr. Brandon Crawford:
Absolutely. Well, everyone listening, if this information resonates with you, or if you know someone that really needs to hear this, please share it with them. The whole point of us getting online today and doing this conversation is to help people and the help that you understand that, this is not about a product. This is not about anything other than we are trying to do good things for good people in this world. And so if there's someone out there that needs this information, please do share it with them. Doctor, hand in again, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge today. This has been an amazing thank you.

Voice Over:
We hope today's episode has inspired you to take that next step towards your best self. Remember, the path to longevity is paved with small daily decisions. Your journey is unique and every step, every choice brings you closer to your ultimate vision of a healthier, happier life. For more insights, tips and resources, visit drbrandoncrawford.com

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Dr. Brandon Crawford

Host
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Dr. Lamees Hamdan

Guest